Arsenal V Newcastle Utd

This season has been far from a good one for both fans and club alike but theres light at the end of the tunnel and the silver lining of potential Champions League football that didn't seem possible running into the New Year.

From the opening whistle you could see the hunger in the Arsenal players eyes. I was at the game last night and thought it was pure dominance by the Gunners that almost ended in frustration until the Verminator bundled over a 95th minute winner.

When Newcastle opened the scoring against the run of play in the 14th minute it seemed common place that RVP linked with Theo to strike past Krul no less then 60 seconds later.
At the very point that the equalizer went, Newcastle started playing for the draw with Krul clearly time wasting at every opportunity.

The Arsenal eventually prevailed in the last gasp which has put them just 1 point behind rivals Spurs who have to be looking over there shoulders at both Arsenal and Chelsea who now have that sniff of Europe's top competition
and with their experience running into the last 10 games would you bet against Spurs finishing 5th maybe even 6th??

Thoughts on a postcard......

Has The Festive Schedule Decided The Top 4?

As usual it's been a very hectic fixture list over the festive period but as we look at the league table here in the first week of January, are we seeing the realistic final four?

Current top 7....

1• Manchester City. Points - 48
2• Manchester Utd. Points - 45
3• Tottenham H. Points - 42
4• Chelsea. Points - 37
5• Arsenal. Points - 36
6• Liverpool. Points - 34
7• Newcastle Utd. Points - 33

While looking at the league as it stands it becomes apparent to me that Spurs really find themselves in with a chance of completing for the league title.
Not only were they the only team not to lose over the Christmas & new year they also have a game in hand which if they win will leave them level on points with Man Utd and therefore just three points behind Man City.

After the last few matches alot of people from fans to pundits will consider Manchester Utd in real trouble after losses to Blackburn and Newcastle respectively but in reality they are still up there.

My main question to football fans everywhere as the title suggests, is the top four decided or do Arsenal, Liverpool and Newcastle still have a chance?

In conclusion my personal opinion is that apart from Spurs no one in the premiership is majorly consistent right now and for me that leaves the top four very much wide open.
With 18 games still to play it's anyone's game and I wouldn't be so confident that the top 4 we currently have in place will still be firm by the time May comes around.

Michael F.

Can The Premier League Trophy Find A Different Home?

The season is still in the early stages but its shaping up with both Manchester clubs being favourites to take home the title. My question is.... does anyone else have a realistic chance in winning the league?

Most people will say Chelsea are the only team that can stop Manchester dominating proceedings but what about Liverpool, Spurs maybe Arsenal, Villa or even Newcastle after the unbeaten start they have had?

Currently the way the table is set up one or two bad results for City/Utd and a handfull of clubs are back in the hunt, now i know this stage of the season its abit early to think that way but my thoughts are that if you are not a City/Utd fan then you have to hang onto the thoughts that the title race is not over in mid-October after the amazing starts the top two have had.

Whats your thoughts on how its gone so far?

The Premier League Returns.

With mixed emotions on the international break for the home nations its back to the bread and butter of the league this weekend.

This weeks fixtures:

Saturday-

Liverpool v Man Utd
Man City v Aston Villa
Norwich v Swansea
QPR v Blackburn
Stoke v Fulham
Wigan v Bolton
Chelsea v Everton

Sunday-

West Brom v Wolves
Arsenal v Sunderland
Newcastle v Tottenham

The one fixture that stands out this weekend will be the early kick-off at Anfield between Liverpool and Man Utd.
This game never fails to gain the attention, wheather its due to the quality of football, sendings off or just the heated war of words between managements and this weekends match should be no different.

With Man Utd being on 19 points and Liverpool being on 13 alot of people will consider this game important for the continuation in Liverpools revival, if Utd ended the weekend on 22 points Liverpool would already be 9 points behind the champions where as if Liverpool got themselves a win 19 points to 16 looks much better and could add Liverpool into the potential league winners group of Utd, City and Chelsea.

Looking at the other fixtures I think the City v Villa game could be very interesting indeed as both teams still find themselves undefeated along with Utd and Newcastle....so...will something give? will one team see their first lose? many will think its in the bag for Man City but im not so sure its as clear cut.

Three fixtures that could be just as important but for reasons further down the table are
Norwich v Swansea,QPR v Blackburn and Wigan v Bolton.

Norwich and Swansea are both joint on 8 points so a win for either team would propel them into a great position but if you're a betting man you'd probably go for the draw which both teams would likely take as a good result.

QPR on the same points as Norwich and Swansea find themselves at home to second from bottom Blackburn and after their terrible result against Fulham will be determined not to fall foul again but Blackburn will be hoping to kickstart their season and realive the pressure, even if its just for a little bit.

Wigan 18th hosting Bolton 20th is arguably the most interesting fixture out of the 3... if either team lose the  confidence that they started the season with could really be dented and would really find themselves early favourites for regation...fans will be watching this one with interest, nerves and hope.

The last two fixtures on Saturday Chelsea v Everton and Stoke v Fulham i think are both worth a watch with Chelsea and Fulham having high scoring wins last time around will they be able to carry that through? wWe shall see.

Sundays fixtures could make for a very interesting day too with Newcastle being unbeaten still and Spurs still on a high after a North London derby win...Arsenal  and Sunderland will want to put a stop to their very average starts to this season and West Brom v Wolves which is always a heated occasion and will be a very hard game to predict.

All in all this weekend could prove to be a classic with early season hopes on the line and potential must win games across the ball, i know ill be watching with interest and personally hope the Arsenal can start heading in the right direction.

Who ever you support have your say.

PBS